Giving

One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.  –Proverbs 11:24

So, regularly tithing is a relatively new discipline for me. Since I more regularly make money, I more regularly tithe. God has been teaching me to give a percentage of what I make back to Him even when I feel like I can’t afford to, in faith that He can provide. I guess I feel somewhat like the widow with the two coins in Mark 12:41-44 and Luke 21:1-4. I mean, I’m a college student, I don’t make much money and I have school loans that I’ll have to start paying back in 8 months. I feel like I need everything I make, but at the same time I feel like God wants me to give what little I have in faith.

So, Proverbs 11:24. I think hoarding our money really shows where our treasure is – on earth. Hoarding money leaves us wanting more and more because we try to gain peace of mind through it, but no amount of money can give that to us. Let’s say we have X amount of money and that doesn’t give us peace, so we strive for more. But then we get more and that doesn’t give us security either. So then we get more and we just want more and more in the hope that eventually it will give us true security and peace, but it never does. Money can’t give us a lasting peace, but God is our rock and our peace. I think freely giving shows where our dependence is – on God. And it shows where our treasure is – in heaven. Rather than money, we can rely on God and grow richer in love and in our currently unseen treasures that wait for us in heaven.

I think I’m growing to understand how to depend on the Lord financially. I can give knowing that I can’t depend on money for security, but I have to rely on God. He’s teaching me to have my heart set on Him and on heaven and to not have any part of my heart set on money and worldly treasures. Ultimately, the worldly treasures fail, but God never fails.